Ore-separator.



PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906.

J. G. KIRKSEY.

ORE SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2a, 1903.

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, 110.833.2253. PATENTED OCT. 16, 19061 J. G. KIRKSEY,

ORE. SEPARATOR. APPLICATION rmm SEPT. 2a. 1903.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed September 23, 1903. Serial No. 174,331.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN GIDEON KIRK- sEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Carthage, in the county of Jasper and State ofMissouri, have invented a new and useful Ore-Separator, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to ore-concentrators, and especially to devices ofthis character in which the ore is washed over the surface of atransversely-inclined vibratory table and separated by gravity intostrata of varying degrees of purity, and has for its objects to providea device of this character of comparatively simple construction whichwill be efficient in operation, one in which a steady uniform vibrationis imparted to the table, and one in which the degree of inclination ofthe table and the speed of vibration thereof may be regulated at will toaccord with the nature of the material under treatment.

' To these ends the invention comprises the novel details ofconstruction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of anore-concentrator embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame with the table partly broken away to expose the underlyingmechanism to view. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through thedevice. Fig. 4 is a rear elevation.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a main base-frame consisting oflongitudinal front and rear beams 2 and 3, respectively, and transverseconnecting-beams 4. Mounted upon the main base-frame is a supplementalframe consisting of lower front and rear longitudinal beams 5 6 andupper front and rear longitudinal beams 7 and 8, which are spacedvertically above the respective lower beams by suitable spacing-blocks 9and are connected by transverse beams 10. The supplementalframe ishinged at its front longitudinal edge to the base-framel by means ofhinges 11, attached to the front bars 2 and 5 of the respective frames,whereby the supplemental frame may be transversely inclined to a greateror lesser degree by raising and lowering its rear side in the mannerpresently described.

Mounted for longitudinal reciprocation. upon the supplemental frame is atable 12, the surface of which is composed of any suitable material,such as sheet metal or planking, se cured to a framework made up oflongitudinal front and rear bars13 and transverse connecting-boards 14,said table having attached to its under side and at its transversecenter longitudinal bar 15, while upon the upper surface of the tablethere is arranged a series of riffles 16, preferably of the form andarrangement herein shown. The forward end and rear longitudinal edge ofthe table are bordered by an upwardlyextending vertical flange, whilethe rear end and front longitudinal edge are bordered byvertically-depending flanges, said flanges all consisting, preferably,of sheet metal. There is also mounted at the rear longitudinal edge ofthe table a pipe 17, which is suitably perforated and delivers upon thetable during the concentrating operation a constant stream of water, andat the rear of the table, adjacent to its front end, there is mounted abox or hopper 18, which receives the ore or other material to be treatedand delivers the sameonto the table,

My improved mechanism for reciprocating the table 12 to impart avibratory motion thereto consists of a crank-shaft 19jo'urnaled inbearings sustained bybrackets 20, attached to the transverse beams 4t10at the forward end of the machine. The shaft has a suitable cranlcbend21, within which is journaled one end of a link 22, the opposite end ofwhich is pivoted to the end of a reciprocatory pitman 23, slidinglymounted in bearings 24, sustained by .the transverse beams of thesupplemental frame. The pitman 23 is composed of two sections disposedend to end in parallel relation, the adjacent ends of the sections beingoppositely threaded, or, in other words, having, respectively, right andleft hand threads and connected by a turnbuckle or member 25, which maybe manipulated for lengthening or shortening the pitman, as will bereadily understood, and for the purpose which will later appear.

A pair of lazy-tong levers 26 are pivoted, as at 27, to one of thetransverse beams 10, said levers being provided at their forward endswith suitable heads or blocks 28, provided with lateral horizontalsockets, and at their rear ends with similar socketed heads or blocks29, in which are pivoted the forward ends of a pair of links 30, theopposite ends of which are pivoted in the head 31 of a pitman 32,slidingly mounted in bearings 33, sustained by the transverse beams ofthe sup plemental frame. The rear end .of pitman 32 extends through thevertically-depending 5 portion of an angle-plate 34, bolted or otherwisesecured to the under side of bar 15, and has its end threaded for thereception of a suitable nut 35, whereby the active portion of the pitman32 may be varied. Disposed. upon the shaft 32 is a normally expandedspring 36, which bears at one end upon the forward bearing 33 and at itsopposite end upon an adjusting-nut 37, which is tapped on to the pitmanand may be manipulated for varying the tension of the spring. 38 is apair of links each of which has one of its ends seated loosely in one ofthe sockets of head 28, the other ends of the links being seated looselyin sockets formed in a head 39, provided upon the rear end of pitman 23.

In practice rotary motion is imparted to shaft 19 from any suitablesource of power and serves, through the medium of link 22, toreciprocate pitman 23, which in turn acts,

through'the medium of links 38,to spread or expand the front ends of.the lazy-tongs 26 at .every forward stroke of the pitman, Thls actionlikewise spreads the rear ends of the lazy-tongs and through the mediumof links 0 30 and pitman 32 imparts a rapid forward reciprocation to thetable, the spring 36 being at the same time compressed, Upon eachrearward stroke of pitman 23 the for ward ends of the lazy-tongs arerelieved of 5 the expanding pressure of links 38, whereby the spring 36is permitted to expand and in expanding causes a rearward stroke of thetable through the medium of pitman 32, while at the same time the pullexerted .upon

40 links 30 moves the ends of the lazy-tongs inward to maintain them inengagement with the links 38. Attention is here directed to the factthat the expanding force or movement of spring 36 is less than the speedof 5 movement of pitman 23, whereby the table is reciprocated fore andaft with an alternating quick and slow movement, the movement in onedirection being rapid and that in the other being comparatively slow,whereby a vibratory shock will follow at the end of each movement of thetable, which will serve to feed the material bodily forwardlongitudinally thereof, at the same time acting to separate orconcentrate the material, as will be readily understood. It is also tobe noted that the tension of spring 36 may be readily varied ascircumstances require for regulating the movement of the table, therebyto ac cord with the movement imparted from pitman 23.

It will be noted that the links 38 fit at their ends within sockets anddo not require fastening means, such as pivot-pins, because the spring36 causes the ends of the levers 26 to press against the links at alltimes. Wear upon the links is thus taken up automatically and there isno danger of themechanism getting out of order at this point.

The travel of table 12 is rendered smooth and frictionless by means ofballs or other antifriction devices 40, disposed between bearing-platesarranged at intervals throughout the length of the table and providedwith suitable racew ays for the antifriction devices.

As before stated, the table 12 is inclined 7; transversely, and formaintaining and varying said inclination I employ at the rear side ofthe device a horizontal longitudinally-disposed shaft 41, provided atintervals with head-blocks 42, in each of which are pivoted the ends ofa pair of links-43, the outer ends of said links being pivoted,respectively, to the longitudinal bar 3 of the main frame and the upperlongitudinal bar 8 of the supplemental frame. There are preferably threesets of 8 links 43, disposed, respectively, adjacent to the ends andlongitudinal center of the frame, said links being simultaneouslyexpanded or contracted for raising or lowering the supplemental frame atits rear side relative to the 0 base-frame 1 by moving the shaft 41 in alongitudinal direction. This motion is imparted to the shaft by means ofa screw 44, operatively connected with the forward end of the shaft andworking in a movable bear- 5 ing 45, the end of said screw beingprovided with a hand-wheel46, whereby it may be rotated for operatin theshaft. From this construction it will be seen that when the hand-wheelis rotated in one direction it will move the shaft 41 forwardly andlongitudinally of the frame, thus expanding the links 43 and raising thesupplemental frame at its rear side for inclining the table 12-forwardly transversely, whereas movement in the other directioncontracts the links and decreases the inclination of the table. Thus itwill be seen that the inclination of the table may be readily varied orregulated according to the natureof material under treatment.

In operation the ore is delivered at the front upper side of the tableand is washed transversely across the same. As the ore travels over thetable it is separated, owing to its varying specific gravity, intostrata which form in the spaces between the ritfles 16, the heavierparticles settling, of course, at the highest point of the table, thoseof a lighter character at a lower point, &c., until the gangue washesover the lower edge of the table. After this primary separation the oremoves longitudinally of the table, owing to the vibration of the latter,and is delivered at the rear discharge end of the table in athoroughly-separated condition, the degree of the vibration of the tableand also its inclination being regulated in the manner heretoforedescribed to meet the conditions and character of the material.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I 1 0 produce a device ofcomparatively simple construction by which the ore will be thoroughlyseparated and one in which there will be imparted to the table duringits operation a uniform vibration, thus rendering the sepa ration moreperfect, and one in which the degree of vibration may be readily varied,as heretofore explained. In attaining these ends I do not limit myselfto the precise details herein set forth, inasmuch as minor changes maybe made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is In an ore-separator,a supporting-frame, a table movably mounted thereon, crossed leversmounted upon a common pivot extending from the frame, an inner rodslidably mounted upon the frame, a bracket extending from the table andadjustably engaged by the rod,

links pivoted to the rod and to one end of the crossed levers, alongitudinally-adjustable rod slidably mounted on the frame and having ahead at one end provided with oppositely-disposed sockets, links havingrounded ends loosely seated within said sockets and extending therefrom,the outer ends of the links being seated in sockets in the ends of thecrossed levers, a spring surrounding the inner rod and bearingthereagainst to clamp the link between the socketed head and the crossedlevers, and means for reciprocating the longitudinally-adjustable rod.

" In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have heretoafiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN GIDEON KIRKSEY. Witnesses:

H. L. SHANNON, WILL G. MOORE.

